Mackinac Bridge

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A man killed when his car hurtled off the Mackinac Bridge had a long record of traffic violations and had not been a licensed driver in Michigan since 1992, state officials said Monday. Richard Alan Daraban, 25, of Macomb County's Shelby Township had just passed a tractor-trailer rig Sunday evening when his Ford Bronco veered to the right, skidded along a guardrail and fell nearly 200 feet into the frozen Straits of Mackinac. Daraban's body was recovered atop the ice, while the vehicle sank.

The headlines suggested terror in the heartland: Two Arab-Americans carrying a big wad of cash and hundreds of cell phones arrested in Ohio, while three others with a thousand cell phones and photos of the majestic Mackinac Bridge were nabbed in Michigan. But the perception of a national security threat, aired on news channels over the weekend, is unraveling, causing the FBI and at least one prosecutor to back off and provoking protests from Muslim-American groups that allege ethnic profiling.

You know it's not the same old cattle drive when a youthful deity swipes the cowgirls' clothing as they're bathing in the river. That's just one of many Hindu stories about the playful Krishna and his exploits in and around Mathura and Vrindavan. These twin cities of India are just an hour's drive from bustling Agra and the Taj Mahal. And all of those places are part of Deepak Chopra's Nov. 1-8 spiritual journey, "How to Know God." The $2,650 program includes lodging at Agra's Jaypee Palace Hotel; all meals; group meditations, yoga and sacred ceremonies; programs led by Deepak Chopra and his faculty; and tours of the Taj Mahal, Mathura and Vrindavan with an English-speaking guide.

Mackinac Island, Mich., with its Victorian sensibility, its fudge and ice cream, and its clopping horses, is magic to folks who adore Victorian sensibility, fudge, etc. The Upper Peninsula, on the other hand, is an entirely different kind of "island," its isolation and sometimes harsh weather (plus a mining and lumber legacy) combining with broad tracts of near-wilderness to create a culture all its own. For visitors, that means lots of unspoiled coastline on three Great Lakes, towns in economic transition and locals who, in the tradition of frontier, will treat you as instant friends.

Windquest crossed under the Mackinac Bridge at 2:17 p.m. Monday, the first racing sailboat to finish the 101st Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. The MaxZ86 from the Turbo Division had an elapsed time of approximately 48 hours, which was 12 hours longer than its time in 2008. Windquest will receive the Royono Trophy for first to finish the 333-mile race. But handicap adjustments mean boats that arrived later Monday still can win. The winners are scheduled to be announced Tuesday.

In September my friend and I took a trip to Pennsylvania to visit relatives. We went there via the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan. When we got to the bridge, there was a toll booth right there to pay. We went on the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes, and whenever there was a toll, the booth was right there. We decided to come back the other way, through Illinois. When we got on the toll road, we paid the toll. After we drove a while, we saw a sign for a toll booth but never saw the booth.

BRING BACK THE CONCORDE: The supersonic Concorde, which had its last commercial flights in 2003, might fly again if a consortium of fans has its way. The group, Club Concorde, hopes to gain approval from Britain's civil aviation agency and to raise $20 million to $30 million to purchase a Concorde and refurbish it. "There is something wrong when the Spitfire from World War II is still flown and the Concorde is not," said Paul James, president...

By Peter Karl. Special to the Tribune. Peter Karl, a former Chicago television investigative reporter, is the skipper of Dr. Detroit | July 23, 2000

Sailing skill, a little luck and a very good weather report seemed to be the key elements Saturday when the Chicago-to-Mackinac race started. More than half the fleet seemed to favor the winds along the Wisconsin shore. Early morning winds of 18 knots or more dropped to single digits as the sun set on the first day. Nearly 300 boats and 3,000 sailors made the start of this year's race to Mackinac, which could prove to be a slow one if weather predictions hold true. On the first day of a long-distance race, sailors sail for speed more than position.

By Peter Karl. Special to the Tribune. Tribune news services contribued to this report | July 16, 2001

The winds of Lake Michigan once again tested the endurance, ability and skill of the 3,000 sailors who are participating in this year's Chicago-to-Mackinac Island race. Most sailors went to the east side of the lake but apparently ran into gridlock before the Manitou Islands as Dr. Detroit made its way up the western shore. Thunderstorms threatened on the northern portion of the lake but did not materialize during the day. The 333-mile race is basically broken into four legs, the longest of which is from Chicago to the entrance of the Manitou Islands.

In one of the strangest Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac events since the 333-mile sailboat race began in 1898, more than a third of the fleet of 317 boats was still floating on Lake Michigan as awards were being presented on land to top finishers Tuesday afternoon. Lack of wind accounted for so many boats under sail three days into the race, though the pace of arrivals picked up after the midday awards ceremony. Officials said this could be the race affected most by light winds since 1974.